06-11-2013, 02:44 PM
Typically, and ancient incendiary round would have been a cage fire style arrow head. This is an arrow head that has a point that seperates into four bars to form a sort of basket or cage behind the point, the four individual bars are then joined by a forge welded collar that goes around the arrow shaft.
The cage is so that the flammable materials have a nice nest to hole them in place and give them some protection during flight. (we wouldn't want the incendiary falling off or extinguishing during flight) but because of the cage, a cage fire arrow head would have a hard penetrating a scutum far enough to pose any real danger of setting the shield on fire.
Additionally, you have to think about the use of incendiary ammunition in the classical sense., We're always given images of ancient using flaming arrows against the enemies, but there;s just not any proof of this. In my experience, incendiary arrows are heavy, which decreases range, and hard to shoot accurately. I find it hard to believe that you would shoot these at people, I think it's far more likely to use these in a siege scenario, where you are trying to set buildings and siege equipment on fire.
The cage is so that the flammable materials have a nice nest to hole them in place and give them some protection during flight. (we wouldn't want the incendiary falling off or extinguishing during flight) but because of the cage, a cage fire arrow head would have a hard penetrating a scutum far enough to pose any real danger of setting the shield on fire.
Additionally, you have to think about the use of incendiary ammunition in the classical sense., We're always given images of ancient using flaming arrows against the enemies, but there;s just not any proof of this. In my experience, incendiary arrows are heavy, which decreases range, and hard to shoot accurately. I find it hard to believe that you would shoot these at people, I think it's far more likely to use these in a siege scenario, where you are trying to set buildings and siege equipment on fire.
